Overview

A Murder of Quality (George Smiley Series) by John le Carré

From the New York Times bestselling author of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Our Kind of Traitor; and The Night Manager, now a television series starring Tom Hiddleston. John le Carré’s new novel, A Legacy of Spies, is now available.

"Fielding and Jebedee were dead, Steed-Asprey vanished. Smiley—where was he?"

John le Carré's second novel, A Murder of Quality, offers an exquisite, satirical look at an elite private school as it chronicles the early development of George Smiley.

Miss Ailsa Brimley is in a quandary. She's received a peculiar letter from Mrs. Stella Rode, saying that she fears her husband—an assistant master at Carne School—is trying to kill her. Reluctant to go to the police, Miss Brimley calls upon her old wartime colleague, George Smiley. Unfortunately, it's too late. Mrs. Rode has just been murdered. As Smiley takes up the investigation, he realizes that in life—as in espionage—nothing is quite what it appears.

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author John le Carré (A Delicate Truth and Spy Who Came in from the Cold) was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall.

Editorial Reviews

“[Le Carré] is one of our great writers of moral ambiguity, a tireless explorer of that darkly contradictory no-man’s land.”

Tim Rutten

"Le Carré is simply the world's greatest fictional spymaster."

Newsweek

"Vastly entertaining."

Sunday Telegraph (UK)

"Beautifully intelligent, satiric and witty."

Observer (UK)

"Beautifully intelligent, satiric, and witty."

The Observer (UK)

"Vastly entertaining."

The Sunday Telegraph (UK)

To honor Le Carre's 45th anniversary, Walker is reissuing these first two George Smiley mysteries (he debuted with Call) in affordable hardcovers. Grab 'em. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

A Murder of Quality: Smiley Series, Book 2 4.1 out of 5based on
0 ratings.
11 reviews.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Bought it because it featured George Smiley. Different from the Karla Trilogy in this isn't a spy thriller, but Smiley uses the same deductive techniques to solve the mystery.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

True to Le Carre' form. Mysterious, exciting, surprising and excellent detail. I have read nearly all his books and this is among his best. I have never been disappointed in his writings and look gorward to the next one.

glauver

More than 1 year ago

The second George Smiley novel was written shortly after the John Le Carre' debut Call For The Dead. It is a mystery instead of a spy novel, and Smiley is a duck out of water as he looks into the death of a teacher's wife at a stuffy boys' school. It is hard to imagine this is the same writer who released the landmark The Spy Who Came In From The Cold a year later. Yet some of the same themes of his later Circus stories are present; the situation is not what it appears and those in authority are unworthy of their positions. It is a rather odd entry in the Le Carre' canon, but worth reading.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

The book is a good read.Once again in the world of George Smiley, John le Carre brings us to world surrounded murder, deceit, and the prejudices between social classes.A good character of what a person can do regardless regardless of the consequences.

OldguyVA

More than 1 year ago

I'm re-reading all of Le Carre's works, this time on my NOOK instead of the paper version. I had almost forgotten this particular novel, which is more of a detective mystery than a spy novel. It really develops the Smiley character and it's superb--worth a read if you haven't already, worth a re-read if, like me, you'redoing a retrospective for whatever reason.

Greenwich Village coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi is rolling with a popular new trend, until someone
close to her is driven to kill…The Village Blend’s Muffin Muse coffee truck is all the rage. But a fatal hit-and-run and a shocking death ...

The classic story of an ordinary man seemingly out of his depth, this is Ambler's
most widely acclaimed novel, one of the masterpieces of the genre (The New York Times Book Review).A chance encounter with a Turkish colonel leads Charles ...

EASY BAKE COVEN Katie Lightfoot's tired of loafing around as the assistant manager of an
Ohio bakery. So when her aunt Lucy and uncle Ben open a bakery in Savannah's quaint downtown district and ask Katie to join them, she ...

“Busman’s Honeymoon has everything—mystery, comedy, love, and drama—all served up in Dorothy Sayers’s best style.”
—New York TimesThe great Dorothy L. Sayers is considered by many to be the premier detective novelist of the Golden Age, and her dashing sleuth, ...

Mystery bookstore owner Tricia Miles has been spending more time solving whodunits than reading them.
Now a nearby gas explosion has injured Tricia's sister's boyfriend, Bob Kelly, the head of the Chamber of Commerce, and killed the owner of the ...

Kate Sheridan is at Blenheim Palace to research King Henry's mistress Rosamund, said to have
been poisoned there by Eleanor of Aquitaine. But her visit takes a strange turn when her hosts unwittingly begin to relive the legend.

It is a truly exhilarating experience for Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia Browning-helping Charleston's Sea
Turtle Protection League shepherd hundreds of tiny green loggerheads safely into the sea. But just as she's about to celebrate all her hard work, she ...

Bed-and-breakfast—with a side of ghosts.Word has spread that contractor Mel Turner can communicate with the
spirits of the dead, and she’s having a hard time maintaining a low profile. She decides to embrace her reputation for the chance to restore ...